Let It Lie
by Velle
Summary: After moving to London, Jenna and Chase, quickly find themselves thrown into the world of firms, fighting, and football. Although seductive, the violence and danger soon take their toll and the girls are left wondering if they're too far in. Pete/OC
1. You Don't Look Chinese

**Hey all.**

**Okay, first thing. Credits. I unfortunately don't own any of the GSE characters, settings, etc. I do, however, own Chase and Jenna and any new characters that I might include later. The story is also entirely my own and if it bares any glaring similarity to another story, trust me when I say it is coincidence. Great minds think alike and all that, right. ^_^**

**Second, I want to apologize in advance for any cultural elements that are horribly incorrect in the story. I've never been to England in my life (though I very much want to) and so I'm not familiar with the colloquial jargon or the school system or the firm culture or anything. All those elements are based on what I can glean from the Hooligans film itself, other films and television shows set in England, the limited research I can do online, and, sad to say, cultural stereotypes (I hope there aren't too many in there). So if you see anything that is culturally wrong, feel free to point it out (nicely, mind you) and even make suggestion on how I might change it. If the change is small enough that it won't seriously affect the flow of the story, I'll make it. If not, please bear with me.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 1: You Don't Look Chinese**

"Chase, come on! You know I hate pubs. Can't you go later tonight?" Jenna whined as she followed her friend down the London streets.

"And leave you shut up in the hotel all night. No way! I'm making sure you stay out of your cave and get some sun," her best friend remarked, referring to Jenna's unhealthy habit of never going out.

"I'm not asking to go back to the room, just not a pub," Jenna begged.

"Too late. We're here," Chase said, pointing to the building on the corner of the next street.

"How do you even know about this place? It's not like you've ever been to London before. Did you look it up or something?" Jenna asked, scanning the buildings façade. It didn't look like much. It certainly didn't seem like anything special.

"No. Remember I told you I made a few British friends online while I was at Saint Mary's? Well, on of them is a huge football nut and recommended this place," Chase said.

"Great! So we're gonna sit at a pub while I drink nothing but water watching you and a bunch of other rowdy Brits watch a soccer game. Sounds like fun," Jenna muttered sarcastically.

"Firstly, it's FOOTBALL!" Chase stated emphatically. "Second, you like to watch it too. Admit it."

"Yeah! I like to watch it, but I'm not obsessed with it," Jenna remarked.

"Just try to have a good time. For me! You know I've always wanted to go to a real British pub," Chase pleaded.

Jenna rolled her eyes at her friend. Chase had this love affair with England and was madly obsessed with football. When they were both living back in Shanghai she would go to the only pub around just to watch the matches. Her obsession ran so deep that she had made an effort to abandon her use of American English and switched to British English. It was the one thing the two girls didn't have in common.

As the two friends entered the pub, which, Jenna noted, was called the Brigid Abbey Pub, they were assailed by the smell of beer and cigarette smoke. Jenna let out a cough and waved her hand in front of her nose. If there was one smell she couldn't stand, it was the smell of cigarettes.

"And this is why I didn't want to come here," she muttered.

Chase touched her arm and led her through the thick crowd to the bar. "Oi!" she called out, leaning over the bar and waving her arm to try to get the bartender's attention. "Can I get a pint of Carling and a glass of water?"

The bartender gave her a nod to acknowledge he had heard her then went about his business.

Chase turned to her friend who looked none to please about the unruly men that filled the room. Jenna was fairly introverted and desperately hated crowds, especially when alcohol was involved. Today was no exception. True to form, she looked like she just wanted to bolt right on out of there.

"Lighten up, mate. Just try to have a good time," Chase said, trying to ease her companion's anxiety.

Jenna let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah. Right."

Suddenly, a crescendo of singing filled the pub. "I'm forever blowing bubbles. Pretty bubble in the air."

Jenna turned to Chase who was also belting out the words to the familiar song.

"What is this?" she asked.

"Never mind what it is. Just sing with me. Come on," she said.

"They fly so high, they reach the sky. Then like my dream they fade and die." The singing just got louder and louder as the men belted it out at the top of their lungs. Jenna tried to follow along as best as she could. As she mumbled the words under her breath, she noticed that every person in the bar had their attention fixed on a group of men clustered around one of the tables at the back. There were two standing on the tabletop that seemed to be leading the singing. One was a tall blonde man who wore a black turtleneck. The other was relatively shorter than his friend, with dark hair and piercing blue eyes.

"Here you go, miss," the bartender said, placing both their glasses in front of them. Chase handed Jenna her water and took a sip of her beer.

By this time, the men had already launched into another song. Many were doing, what Jenna could only describe as a strange hopping dance as they splashed their various drinks around and clapped along to the beat.

"So tell me, when does the game start?" Jenna practically yelled to her friend.

"Haha! You're that anxious to leave, are you?" Chase said, noting Jenna's less than amused expression. "Don't worry, it'll start soon. It's highly unlikely that this mob will calm down though." Chase said with a grin.

Jenna sighed. "Well, let's at least find somewhere to sit down. I don't wanna be crushed if they suddenly decides to stampede," she said, scanning the room for any vacant tables.

"We should probably just sit at the bar. There don't seem to be any table's left," Chase said, looking around as well.

The two took their seats and Jenna prepared for a wildly boring and uncomfortable evening.

* * *

About an hour later, Jenna had taken to sketching on napkins while her friend cheered on the players on the television. She would glance over on occasion and admire the flow of the game and after a few minutes would return to her doodles.

"You okay," Chase inquired. "Look, if you're really bored, we can leave."

"No, no. We're here already and I'm having a good enough time. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. And believe it or not, my allergies haven't flared up yet from all this cigarette smoke. Just go on and watch the game. I'm fine here," Jenna said reassuringly.

"Are you sure?" Chase said.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it," Jenna insisted and waved her friend away.

"Okay," Chase said with a shrug before returning to the game.

Jenna was in the middle of sketching one of the boys on the table across from her when she felt someone elbowing his way towards the bar.

"Oi, Terry. Another round, yeah!" came a heavily accented voice to her right.

Jenna continued with her business until she felt the man's eyes on her. She looked up. It was the blond guy who had been standing on the table before. Their eyes met for a second and she flashed him a small smile of acknowledgement before returning to her napkin.

"That's pretty good likeness" he said.

"Huh?" Jenna replied looking back at him.

"You're drawing my mate, Bovver over there, right? Not a bad likeness," he repeated as he pointed to the man Jenna had been sketching.

"Oh. Um, thanks," she said.

"Ah, you're a Yank?" he inquired, noting her American accent.

"Oh, no. I actually come from Shanghai," Jenna replied.

"Bullocks!" the man stated emphatically. "You don't look Chinese."

"No, I have Spanish heritage. It's just that my grandparent went to Shanghai a long time ago. Both my parents were raised there," Jenna explained. It was always a challenge explaining where she was from. No one ever believed her.

"Well, you don't sound Spanish either," the man said with a smug grin, as if he was trying to catch her in a lie.

"Well, I studied in an international school my whole life, so I guess I picked up my accent from the American kids," Jenna offered.

The man looked at her for a second. He seemed amused, though Jenna couldn't figure out why. "I'm Pete," he finally said offering his hand.

"Jenna," she replied, taking it.

At that moment, the bartender put down a tray of mugs in front of her, splashing a little of the beer onto her napkin as he did so. Bovver's likeness became a mess of running ink.

"Sorry 'bout that," Pete said, indicating her drawing as he took the tray. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Jenna replied as she watched him carry the tray back to his friends.

"Hey, who was that?" Chase asked, turning towards her friend to grab her drink.

"Just a guy. Pete, he said his name was," Jenna said, grabbing another napkin to begin another sketch.

"He was cute," Chase offered.

"Yes, he was," Jenna agreed with a slight smile.

The two grinned at each other for a moment before getting back to their separate activities.


	2. Subway Madness

**I re-read this chapter and decided it needed to be fleshed out a little so, for those of you who have already read it, there will be a newer version with better character development soon.**

***Okay here's the updated version.**

**Chapter 2: Subway Madness**

After about another hour and a half, the match was over. Chase had reported that West Ham had won 2-0, which honestly didn't mean a thing to her friend. The two girls grabbed their bags and started to head out of the pub. As they tried to squeeze their way passed the horde of celebrating men, Jenna noticed Pete and his friends moving towards the door as well. They seemed extra excited about something as they sauntered into the night. Jenna and Chase followed a distance behind them, as they all seemed to be heading toward the nearest subway entrance. They made their way down the steps and into tunnel, where they waited for their train.

"So, was that fun?" Chase asked, nudging her friend.

"Okay, I'll admit it was a little fun. Still a bit rowdy for my taste though," Jenna responded with a grin. "We're heading back now right, because I'm exhausted."

"You didn't do anything," Chase teased.

"I'm psychologically exhausted. All that crazy singing and yelling and shoving took a lot out of me," Jenna said, defensively.

"Haha! Don't worry. We'll be back at the hotel in no time. Then, shower and sleep," Chase said, rubbing her hands together in anticipation.

Their train started to pull in, and as it slowed to a stop, both girls noticed the screams of the guys beside them growing louder and a little more hostile. Then the train doors opened and another gang of men came running out, shoving the women violently as they made their way to Pete and his friends. Before either girl could say anything, they were on the floor in the middle of a huge fight. Fists and blood were flying everywhere, and Chase and Jenna were both scrambling to find their way out of the mob.

"Shit! This is bad. This is really bad. Are you okay?" Chase called to her friend.

"Oh my God, Chase! What's happening?" Jenna cried, trying to reach her.

Suddenly she felt a tug at her hair.

"Oi! Get up, you bitch!" came an angry voice above her.

Jenna found herself being yanked to her feet by her hair. Using what little self-defence training she had, she bent forward stepped backwards so she was standing at the man's side and she quickly straightened up. With a small yelp of discomfort, he let go of her and Jenna quickly proceeded to give him a hard kick to his shin. She turned to run and find Chase when she felt someone grab her arms.

"What do we have here, 'ay? Another Yank cunt joined up with the GSE?" said the man who was holding both Jenna's arms in a vice-like grip.

Suddenly, the man was tackled away from her by none other than Pete. Jenna looked on in shock before she felt Chase pulling at her arm.

"Are you okay?" her best friend asked looking her over.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Oh my God! What happened to you?" Jenna asked hysterically, noting the bleeding cut on Chase's cheek.

"Never mind. We have to get out of here," Chase said.

Before either girl could make a run for it, another man had come up towards them and punched Jenna in the jaw. She went reeling backwards and was about to turn and defend herself when she saw Chase had jumped onto the man's back and had him in a choke hold. Before Jenna could move to help her friend however, she felt herself being grabbed around the waist from behind. She instinctively bent her legs and leaned forward and rotated her torso to elbow the man in the head. She stomped down hard on his foot and, taking advantage of his loosened grip, ran towards her friend. Delivering a swift kick to the groin of the man Chase was strangling, she grabbed her friend as she dismounted.

"Let's go!" she yelled tugging Chase into a run.

However, just as she spoke, the girls heard a roar of victory go up around them. They watched as the last of the other gang ran off up the stairs leaving Pete and his friends to celebrate. There was a lot of back patting and congratulating as the two girls recovered from what had just happened. Before their little misadventure had fully registered, they saw Pete standing in front of them, a huge, cocky grin decorating his bruised and bleeding face.

"You alright?" he asked energetically.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks for your help," Jenna replied, breathlessly.

"What's this? Pete-y went and rescued himself two damsel's in distress," said one of the men as he came up behind Pete.

"Who are these two then?" said another man, (Bovver, Jenna remembered) as he joined them.

"I'm Chase. This is Jenna," Chase offered, with a smile. "Thanks for your help back there."

"No worries. We could kick the shit out of those Tottenham cunts any day," Pete replied, look exceptionally pleased with himself. There was a lot of proud and playful jostling from the boys at that remark.

"So we got ourselves two more Yanks, have we?" the first man stated, looking rather amused. "Tell us, do you know our mate, Matt?" he said, pointing to the short, dark-haired man Jenna had seen on the table beside Pete at the pub.

"They fight a lot better than you, mate," another man commented, nudging the one called Matt playfully.

"Well, thank you, but we're from Shanghai," Chase corrected.

That elicited a roar of laughter from everyone.

"No fucking way!"

"Bullocks!"

"Nah, nah, mates!" Pete jumped in. "They went to an international school," he said with a smile on his face that said he didn't really believe the story himself.

This just initiated another round of laughter.

"Prove it then. Say something in Chinese," one of the men yelled.

"Uhh…" The two girls looked at each other, neither being particularly gifted with languages.

"See that. It's all horse piss, innit," came the taunts from the group.

"Ni shei wei de baba," Jenna responded with the first thing she could think of.

"And what does that mean?" asked another member of the gang, somewhat sobered up now.

"I'd rather not say," Jenna replied, bashfully. She had always found it a little embarrassing that she had never learned Chinese, despite living in Shanghai her whole life. Honestly, all she and Chase knew were a few phrases that were just enough to get by, and this phrase, which they learned from their good friend as a joke.

"Oh, come on. Let's have it," one of the men protested.

Jenna turned to her friend for support, but Chase was already laughing a little from the phrase her friend had chosen to use.

"Fine," Jenna said, trying to keep and embarrassed smile from spreading across her face. "It means … uh … who's your daddy."

That did it. I roar of laughter ripped through the crowd. Some were even close to tears.

"Ah! You see that," Pete said, clapping Jenna on the back. "Now, why don't you two ladies accompany us back to the pub for a drink."

"The pub? Didn't you guys just come from the pub?" Jenna asked, a little confused.

"Yeah, but bashing the Yids is worth a few more pints, 'ay," one of Pete's friends exclaimed.

"Well, thanks, but we should be headed back," Chase said, trying to disengage herself and her friend from the mob of boys.

"Come on!" Pete said. A stream of protests filled the air.

"No, no, no, no!" Chase said. "We really have to go."

The two girls started backing towards the train that had just arrived.

"Thanks again for your help, but it's late and we're pretty tired," Jenna offered with a smile and a wave.

The boys just laughed at their retreat before making their way excitedly up the steps of the station.

**After I started fleshing out this chapter, I decided to change the ending a little bit. I figure that after a subway fight, these girls aren't gonna let themselves be ushered into a bar.**

**I've been unnecessarily focused on editing these first two chapters, but I'm moving on now and I'm writing Chapter 3. Thanks for your patience. ^_^**


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